Sunday, March 29, 2009

OK, so Lord Bubba's Cup may have eluded me in my fantasy football league last fall. But 2009 is offering hope I can believe in, as I'm holding a narrow lead in my NCAA bracket pool, thanks to my having three of the Final Four correct - Michigan State, UConn, North Carolina, and Villanova upset my pick of Pittsburgh.If UConn beats Mich St and UNC beats 'Nova to meet in the championship game, I can win it outright if UNC beats UConn. But if UConn beats UNC, it'll come down to our total-points tie-breaker.Exciting stuff, even for a lukewarm basketball fan.

And since we just drafted for a fantasy baseball league for the summer, it could be the start of an unprecedented Triple Fantasy Crown; the March Madness pool, fantasy baseball, and finally the coup de grace, fantasy football.

Thursday, March 26, 2009

Stomping all over my lofty mood after having gone 26-6 and 13-2 through the first two rounds of the NCAA Tournament, Congress apparently is threatening to examine the anti-trust protection of the NCAA to force it to hold a playoff.

Now, I'm as big an advocate of a D-I playoff as you'll find. The BCS honks (as Jim Rome so lovingly calls them) will never convince me their position is the right one, nor that more money can be made off individual bowls than off a tournament format. (The men's basketball tournament entrenches my belief every year when even non-hoops fans scramble to fill out brackets.) But federal intervention is a sign of nothing less than desperation.

After passing an $800 billion "stimulus" bill that no one in Congress read - a bill that even the vice president admits has about "a 30 percent chance" of working - after unveiling a budget that will add roughly a trillion dollars to the National Debt EVERY YEAR, and while scratching its collective head over how/what to do over rising unemployment and a housing market that's been circling the drain for almost two years, Congress now wants to debate over how college football should crown its champion.

But before we storm the Bastille to lynch those filthy liberal Democrats for daring to bastardize our new national pastime, we need to keep one thing in mind: The College Football Playoff Act of 2009 (HR 390) was introduced by Joe Barton, a REPUBLICAN from Texas. Just when you thought Republicans from Texas were done taking a beating in the national media. ... In this, Barton deserves every snide barb Keith Olbermann and his ilk are likely to hurl his way.

About Me

Ronald Reagan was the last of an 'Old Guard' to predate a 24-hour news cycle that thrives on junk TV and contrarian sound bytes, ever vigilant for the next manufactured outrage.
Reagan communicated great things and did so eloquently. And those who point to Bill Clinton's "eight years of peace and prosperity" would do well to acknowledge the same of Reagan. He oversaw a reinvigoration of America's strength internationally and unprecedented economic growth at home. And his charm and tireless optimism helped pull the nation from the 'national malaise' he inherited from Jimmy Carter.
Reagan may have been the last great president we'll see, at least for a long, long time.